New Light for 12 Grimmauld Place
by SpatialHeather
Summary: Centering around the changes Harry makes to and at 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry starts his life as an adult, frequently with humorous results. Post Deathly Hallows, mainly bridges the gap between DH and the Epilogue. :T for slight language:
1. Kreacher Comforts

-**Kreacher Comforts  
**_(about 7-9 months after the Second Battle of Hogwarts, end of Christmas Holiday)_**  
**

The first step was getting rid of that awful painting. It would be impossible to make changes to the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black with the portrait of Walburga Black screaming about half-bloods and blood-traitors destroying her home. Of course, in the fourteen years since it had been stuck to the wall with a permanent sticking charm, numerous wizards had tried and failed to remove it from its prominent spot in the main hall.

Harry stood with his arms crossed, wand tucked into the crook of his arm, and glared at the ugly yellow-skinned woman. Her eyes had stopped rolling long enough to glare back at him, and for once, she had apparently run out of things to yell at Harry about. "There's a week left of Christmas Holiday, and I will find a way to remove your hideous mug before I return to Hogwarts," Harry said to himself, hoping that hearing it would enable him to think of a solution to the problem. Harry immediately wished he had kept the thought inside his head.

"Filthy Half-Blood Blood-Traitor, disgracing the The Most Noble and Ancient House of Black merely by association! Can't even finish your education in a reasonable amount of years! I have nothing to fear of your supposed' deadlines, Do I boy?!"

"If you want to talk about _Dead Lines_ Walburga, start with your own. I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, infected with so much inbreeding… although I guess it did crank out a few good ones before snuffing itself out."

"Tea, Master?"

Harry whirled around at the sound of Kreacher's voice. He still wasn't used to the old House Elf's new, and much improved, attitude. Harry's eyes fell to the locket around the Elf's neck and his mouth turned itself into a polite smile before addressing him. "No Thanks Kreacher, I'm trying to figure out how to get rid of this," he poked his wand at the canvas and Walburga recoiled in disgust. Harry continued to ponder the portrait allowing Kreacher to do whatever it was that House Elves did when their houses were clean and their Masters' were fed. So Kreacher's short, deliberate cough a few minutes later surprised Harry even more than his original inquiry.

When Harry turned to look at him, there was an odd look in his large eyes. He eyed Harry, and then Walburga, and Harry again, trying in vain for Harry to make some sort of connection. Harry looked back at Kreacher's former Mistress, pleasantly surprised to see her eyes enlarged in shock. Returning his eyes to Kreacher, Harry could only describe the look he saw there as mischievous… and suddenly Harry understood.

Anticipation bubbling up inside of him, Harry cleared his throat and tried for his best professor-like request, "Kreacher… would you please assist me in the prompt removal of Mrs. Walburga Black's portrait from the wall?"

"Would that be a direct order, Master?"

"Quite," and with that, Harry grasped the side of the frame while Kreacher grabbed the bottom, and with the slightest of tugs, the portrait fell with uncharacteristic grace off its no longer permanent spot on the wall.

* * *

The first of a seven+ chapter story… mainly bridges the gap between Deathly Hallows and the Epilogue. Centering around the changes (both drastic and subtle) Harry makes to No. 12 Grimmauld Place. The other main characters will show up in the next chapter, this is more of a prologue. 

Hope you like it, please review!


	2. Heads of House

**-Heads of House  
**_(The next day or so)_**  
**

When Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Luna arrived from the Burrow to 12 Grimmauld Place (from where they would soon head back to Hogwarts to complete their final year), Harry was sitting on the main staircase, staring into space, the mounted head of a house elf resting oddly in his hands.

"Harry!" Hermione grasped when she saw him, "What are you doing?!"

"Bloody Hell, Harry!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione turned to him with a grateful smile on her face, which was quickly replaced with annoyance when she realized Ron wasn't paying attention to Harry at all. Harry nodded to Luna and locked eyes with Ginny. He was so mesmerized that he almost didn't catch Ron's question. "How'd you get rid of that horrible portrait?!?"

Harry snapped to attention and looked at the blank spot between the thick black curtains. "Kreacher helped me."

"Smart!" Ginny and Ron said in unison. Harry smiled.

"Yes very," Hermione said unimpressed, "but why are you holding a House Elf... head?"

"Oh, yeah," Harry looked down at the first head he had removed from the wall. "I don't know what to do with it."

"Blimey Harry, get rid of it, tha's what!"

"I can't just throw it in the rubbish bin. Imagine the look on the garbage men's faces when they dump out my litter bin and six heads tumble out of it!"

"Well of course you can't throw them away!" Hermione said, still shocked.

"Then what do you suppose we do with them, Hermione?"

"We should bury them, like Dobby."

"I don't have anywhere _to_ bury them, and even if I did, I'm not sure I'd want to… it seems like it'd be demeaning Dobby or something… I didn't know them, they could have been horrid little crabs for all I know."

"They were forced into slavery for the _Blacks, _Harry, you would've been a crab, too, if you'd had to serve them!"

The house itself seemed to shudder, and Ron and Ginny glanced at each other. Harry and Hermione fell silent and tried to peer into the corners of the room. Luna had apparently flittered off into one of the rooms on the ground floor.

"This place has always kinda creeped me out…" Ginny said tentatively, trying to break the tension, "But I think once those heads are gone it'll be a lot more homey… Getting rid of Walli has already made a big difference, Harry." Harry wondered if that meant she wouldn't mind making this _her_ home.

"_Walli_?" Hermione rounded on Ginny.

Ginny's retort about _Wal_burga having been on a _wall_ was cut short by Luna's timely inquiry.

"Why don't you just ask Kreacher what to do with them?" Luna said as she leaned against the banister at the top of the stairs. The group on the first floor all spun to find her above them.

"How'd you get up _there_?!?" Ron asked, his eyes darting around.

"I… I don't remember-"

"She has a point," Ginny supplied, and Harry nodded in agreement before Hermione could find something insulting about that idea.

"Kreacher?" As he called the old House Elf appeared next to him.

"Yes Master?" He took a tentative step back away from the head in Harry's hands.

"What would you do with these?"

"Does Master… want me to dust them?"

"No Kreacher… I just didn't think they should be displayed like this," Harry looked into the faraway eyes of the long deceased house elf in his hands. He heard Ginny making her way up the stairs to sit next to him. "And they're just really creepy."

Kreacher grunted in what Harry assumed was agreement. "Master should just tell them to disappear," he muttered before vanishing to another part of the house.

"Do you really think that would work?" Harry asked nobody in particular.

"What had you planned on doing Harry?" Ginny asked quietly.

"Well originally I'd wondered if Hermione had ever read a book about "The Proper Handling and Disposal of Severed House Elf Heads," and considered the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures, but decided this wasn't really their thing, and Office of House-Elf Relocation seems wrong, too, and I contemplated asking Hagrid, and ended up severely wishing Dobby was around for a non-biased answer. Then you all arrived."

"You should try it," Luna said suddenly directly behind them. The couple jumped and Ginny laughed it off and gave him a nudge.

"It just seems… kinda harsh," Hermione sighed, resigned.

Ron took a deep breath and put his arm around Hermione, "Harry, tell them to _Rest in Peace_."

And they did as their master ordered.

* * *

Next chapter entitled Curb Appeal, I might break it into two, its getting awful long… 

Hope you enjoyed what I have so far, please review!


	3. Curb Appeal, pt1

**-Curb Appeal** (part I)

_(A little over a year after the Second Battle at Hogwarts)_

Harry had finally passed the five N.E.W.T.S. he needed to start his career as an Auror, but Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hogwarts Headmistress McGonagall had enlisted him in what they had called 'training.' Knowing that he'd need three years of auror training, Harry had accepted- only to be told that his training was to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts to his school mates: for two years. During his 'Eighth' Year, Defense Against the Dark Arts had been taught on a weekly basis by varying Order Members, other Professors, and even a few Dumbledore's Army Members. It had been educational chaos; each Lecturer had passed down a bit of information, and Hermione had compiled it all and administered exams for the younger years.

But the lack of a permanent professor in the position had parents and students alike whispering about the infamous curse.

And so, fresh out of school himself, Harry was sent to compile lesson plans for the battle against the most mysterious evil in the known world: teenagers. But first, Harry was going to work on this Dreadfully Creepy Most Ancient House of Mold and Mildew.

Harry stood at the door to his 18th century terraced house in the middle of bustling London. Balancing on the edge of the old narrow step at the foot of the door, he pulled his gaze down slowly from the rafters, past the floors of windows, down over the once glorious digits 1 and 2, and halting at the rustic metal snake affixed to the front door. Seemingly in response, the edge of the stair crumbled, forcing him to take a step down.

"How welcoming," Harry muttered. It was a second or so before Harry realized what felt different about the snake he'd seen so many times before. It had lost its magical sheen… no Harry was the one who had lost something. He tried to squint and make the snake wiggle in his head like he'd done as a boy, but to no avail.

It was like it had died. _Probably strangled itself_, he thought as his mind drifted hatefully to Bellatrix Lestrange who was solely responsible for ending her own family's ancient line. _Well,__good riddance._ Harry no longer wished for the Place to be a symbol of darkness. His thoughts turned, as they most often did here, to Sirius. Extracting his wand, he placed the tip against the snake's head and started mumbling spells.

When Harry finished, the snake was still there… but in a much altered state. Its tail was wrapped tightly around its neck, forming a ring with its body. Its slightly bulging eyes and limp tongue implied its demise. The strangled-snake-ring was held in the mouth of a large, mischievous looking canine head.

"Hello, Snuffles," Harry said jokingly, and the dog rolled his eyes. It shook it's snout up and down quickly, causing the snake to swing and knock against the door with a solid thump. "Now that's more like it," Harry said proudly, "Grim's Old Place."

* * *

_**Author's Notes!**_

First off, thank you everyone for the favs and reviews!  
Many of you commented on Luna's character, I love her too! (oh, btw, she took the back stairs)

And… sorry for the wait guys, this chapter had gotten too long, and had a middle chunk that seemed a little OT… so I'm breaking it into three parts, this is the first. I didn't want you to think I'd stopped writing… so, here's another All-Harry vignette (thanks to jane for that word!)

mimosa: maybe Kreacher was so willing to help Harry take down the painting because Kreacher secretly wanted to hang it in his cupboard under the sink?

Also, the bit about teenagers was a joke, don't take it personally… I'm a teenager too! In fact so was Harry when he thought that… haha… but we are scary sometimes…


	4. Domestic Design

**-Domestic Design**  
_(A little over a minute later…)_

Stepping through the door, Harry's delight faded to dread as he realized just how much work really needed to be done. The foreboding narrow entry would need to be widened and brightened. The stairs would need to be redone to fit the wider space... Kreacher had long removed the cobwebs, but the walls needed a fresh coat of paint… and a bit of livening up themselves… he didn't know how he was going to do it, much less in a two months time, and even less with the lesson plans and other preparations Harry would need to make…

He took tea and jotted down a list of all the renovations he had thought of, and another list of things he remembered learning in his years of Defense Against the Dark Arts. At the top of the second list was "I will not tell lies," Patronus, werewolfs, Bogarts, About Unforgivables, Polyjuice, "Never Trust something if you can't see where it keeps its brain," Dragons, non-verbal spells, occulmency, horcruxes, Moody-Crouch's STUFF, dueling… Harry realized that most of the things he learned about defending himself against the Dark Arts he hadn't learned in class at all; but in detention, scheming with his friends, in special classes with professors, or just on the fly. He looked back at the list and drew a line through horcruxes: maybe it'd be best not to teach them _every_thing. He sat back and rubbed his scarred hand, sighing, he drew a thin line through the top entry. _At this rate, I'll have the students teaching me_.

Giving up on the list for now, Harry returned to the main hall, where he'd left his trunk. Apparating into the master suite, it only took one look around for Harry to change his mind. Skirting the thoughts of the uppermost rooms which still held too many memories, Harry brought his trunk to the same room he'd usually ended up in before. It was nestled really, in the heart of the house, floors above and below it, and rooms to the side. It had a window that let in ample amounts of light, which was sort of a rare thing in the Black house. It was also home to an opinionated mirror. Harry hoped it wouldn't mind him bunking here until the rest of the house could be aired out and fixed up.

Harry awoke to an odd feeling, and given the fact that there was no one to tell him to get up and get dressed, he was able to actually think about whatever it was. It was now, then that Harry first realized how utterly quiet it was here, which led Harry to admit that he didn't really like being all alone here. Sure, there was Kreacher, but the elf did his best _not _to be seen… and frankly, wasn't _that_ companionable anyway. _Welcome to the bachelor life of a Hogwarts professor,_ Harry thought dryly, _like Snape._ That thought alone was enough to motivate Harry into jumping out of bed and get dressed as if he actually had something to do.

And it was a good thing he had got himself motivated too. As if sensing his loneliness, Ginny had knocked on his door within the hour. And he she hadn't been alone. Hermione, Luna, Neville, and most of the Weasley clan had sardined themselves into the narrow entry.

"Harry Dear!" Mrs. Weasley embraced him, "We brought some house-warming gifts!"

She and Mr. Weasley headed toward the dining room as George leaned close and murmured to Harry, "…although this house will need more than new curtains and towels before it's considered any sort of _warm_."

Percy held a small pot and greeted Harry with nod, following his parents and brother to the dining room. After greeting Harry, Neville bustled by holding a pot with some sort of plant sticking out of it. Luna smiled widely and held up a sack of what Harry assumed could only be radishes. Not surprisingly, Hermione handed him a book.

"_Domestic Spells For the Muggle-Raised_! Isn't it great Harry?! It's the perfect book, really, you see?"

"Yes, Hermione, thanks."

Ron lowered his head as she headed for the dining room, and whispered, "of course she had to go back and buy another one because the first one she bought for you she read straight through twice and now its all dog-"

"I can hear you Ron!" Hermione said sternly, stopping him mid-sentence.

Harry laughed and pushed him out of the entry, turning to the sole remaining ungreeted guest. He crossed his arms and unsuccessfully tried to keep the smile off his face, "What, you didn't _bring_ me anything?"

Ginny's eyes sparkled as she copied his stance, "not with _that_ attitude."

He lowered his arms and moved towards her, "Alright, I'm sorry."

"I brought you," she said as she linked her hands around his neck, "all of your friends."

"Oh, well then," Harry said as he lowered his head, "let me thank you for that-"

"Is this the _time_?!" Hermione and Ron yelled in unison from the dining room door.

"Ugh, are you two _never_ going to let me live that down?" Harry moaned as Ginny laughed and pulled him toward the dining room, where the smell of fresh baked muffins and the smiles of his friends greeted him.

After a hearty breakfast, Mr. Weasley was ready to tackle "Harry's little project", convinced it shouldn't take more than a half-hour to overhaul the hallway of this old house. Mr. Weasley sent his children and the other teenagers outside (Hermione wouldn't go until Harry warned Kreacher about what they were doing), and conjured up three face masks. He explained the process of magical wall moving and demonstrated for Harry by tearing down the wall to open up the main stairway. Mrs. Weasley controlled the vast amounts of dust and kept the rubble from falling two hard. About three-quarters of an hour later, Harry stepped out of the now very dusty widened entry and into the bright sunlight shining on the crumbling front step. He smiled at the sight in front of him. The muggles however, Harry was sure, would be confused at the large group of oddly dressed young people standing out on the street, staring at the space between Number 11 and Number 13.

Together, Harry and his friends had removed the worst of the dust and repaired cracks and holes until lunchtime. Announcing that he was going to a muggle store to buy some paint, Luna kindly offered her assistance. Harry knew first hand that Luna was skilled at handling paint, it was her decorating style that he couldn't handle, at least, not in Sirius's old house. Not where he was going to-

"I think I'll go, too," Ginny offered, once again coming to Harry's rescue, "All this dust is making my eyes water."

Fascinated with the muggle paint applicators, Mr. Weasley insisted that they paint the hall without magic. Harry suspected it was only so that he'd be able to figure out how the paint-roller worked without irritating Mrs. Weasley. Hermione and Percy carefully edged the walls around the old wood door frames and moulding. Ron, Neville, Harry, George, and Mr. Weasley used brushes and the rollers to cover the wall in paint. Mrs. Weasley kept them all full of tea and sweets, (also magicking the paint to dry faster when her husband wasn't looking). Luna and Ginny painted designs in lighter green over the dark green base coat. The painted vines seemed to grow right out of the floorboards on the first floor, seamlessly turning into a diagonal diamond pattern on the top floors. They ran out of paint when they reached the very top floor, and it was painted deep purple. Harry was proud of it not only because it was just one of those things that you'd see in the wizarding world; that random choice reminded him of the whimsical feel of Hogwarts, the first magical home he could remember.

It took them about a week to paint and re-paper all the rooms that needed it. Harry hadn't included the two bedrooms at the top of the stairwell in his remodel. The tapestry room also lay untouched and unvisited. But other rooms had been painted warm, cozy colors. Mrs. Weasley's curtains hung on the windows, and her towels in the baths. Ron had helped hang Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait where Walburga's had been (without a sticking charm), seeing as they didn't have a portrait of Sirius. When the portrait had started mumbling, Ron told him to 'bug off' and let the heavy curtains fall ceremoniously over his frame.

* * *

**_Author's Notes! _**

Whew, long chapter! (over twice the normal length!)

Thank you so much for the reviews and favorites! They are so fun to read, and I love replying to everyone!

mimosa: Can't you just see him removing it from the frame and using it as wallpaper? (lol, and no I'm not sure if its under the sink, but I rather liked referencing _Harry's_ old cupboard!)

Oh, and when I said the chapter had been split into _three_… well, now it's been split into _four_, because I just couldn't stop writing! Curb Appeal pt2 is two chapters away, and the next Chapter will have some canon characters that you haven't seen here yet… oooohooo mystery! (albeit not a very tough one.)

_edit:_ alright, I had spelled Horcruxes wrong (consistently!), thanks to those who pointed that out!


	5. Family Ties

**-Family Ties**  
_(a week or two later)_

"_Homenum Revelio_," Andromeda uttered with a slight tilt of anxiety that Harry had frequently heard cloud Mrs. Weasley's voice.

Slightly ashamed he hadn't thought of it himself, Harry padded his ego by blaming it on the fact that he'd slept in rather late this morning after returning from a few days at the Burrow.

"Ah, he's run off to the tapestry room, I'm afraid," Andromeda explained as she stood from the dining table and headed toward the room. Harry followed her, feeling kind of sorry for non-muggle-raised children who would have a hard time escaping from their wizarding parents.

Much to his guardian's relief, Teddy was found lying innocently on the floor of the tapestry room, the unblinking eyes of his ancestors surrounding him. The grey-green one-eyed stuffed bear that Harry had given him for his first birthday was scrunched up under him while he attacked a piece of parchment with a blue crayon. Yes, Teddy was his godson, but Teddy was also one of Andromeda's only living relatives; the only thing left of her husband and daughter. Separating them would have done more harm than good, and Harry was learning a lot from both of them.

"Teddy?" Andromeda asked, kneeling down a bit. Harry relaxed against the door frame.

" 'lo, Nan. I color dragon!"

"I see!" she exclaimed with joy, "It's very good, how 'bout you draw him a friend?"

" 'k Nan!" Teddy smiled and picked up a purple crayon and scribbled over the blue.

Straightening, Andromeda's eyes scanned the tapestry before her. "I haven't been in here in a very long time."

"Nobody really has," Harry said, joining her, "I don't really know what to do with it. I wish it didn't have so many… holes." He touched the black mark where Sirius' picture had once been, and eyed a nearby branch that was much too short. Andromeda touched her own black mark and glanced down at her grandson, playing happily on the floor.

"Well," she said strongly, straightening her shoulders, "I suppose there's nothing stopping us from fixing it, now is there?"

"No," Harry chuckled, "I suppose there's not!"

And so, Teddy sat on the floor, creating masterpieces of toddler art, while Harry and Andromeda poured over the infamous Black tapestry, magically re-weaving branches. She was quite skilled at it, adding little flourishes of leaves and flower buds, the faces didn't move, but they appeared alive non-the-less. Harry had tried to fix the black spot where Sirius's likeness belonged, and they had both laughed over the fact that it turned out looking more like Buckbeak than Andromeda's favourite cousin. With more instruction, Harry had managed to weave a more accurate likeness of his late godfather, but his handiwork was still far less magical than Andromeda's. Her pictures of Tonks and Teddy even featured hair colors that changed every few minutes.

When Teddy had gotten curious, Andromeda had told him about her cousin Sirius, and her uncle Alphard. Teddy sat on his godfather's shoulders poking the woven faces as his grandmother told him who each one was.

"Whatsit?" he asked when his finger landed on words instead of a face.

Andromeda frowned at the family motto, "_Toujours Pur_."

"Why?"

"It means _always pure_."

"Why?" When his grandmother didn't answer, he looked down at his godfather, "Why?"

"Well…" Harry said slowly while looking up into two bright silver eyes, "Let me fix it."

With a few words and a wave of the wand, the ancient words were joined by two more.

"_Toujours Pur… de Coeur,_" Andromeda read with a smile.

"Whatsit?" Teddy asked again, obviously impatient.

"Always Pure of Heart," Harry said slowly.

Andromeda smiled softly, "Most noble, Harry."

* * *

_**Author's Notes!**_

Okay, if Harry's French is incorrect, I blame it on him. I trust he was smart enough to pick up how to say (of all words) 'heart' at Bill and Fleur's wedding! If his grammar is wrong, he apologizes.

Also, I originally wanted to have Harry calling Andromeda just Dromeda… but then changed it to her given name. Also Teddy (yay!) I had to research the abilities of 18ish-month-olds, lol. In this fanfic I portray him as a very creative individual, the main reason for which will show up in a later chapter, lol!

I hoped you all liked this chapter as much as I did, I'd love to hear what you thought about it!

**Also, if anyone can think of some sort of change that Hermione might make to 12 Grimmauld Place, I might fit it into the next chapter (**_**with credit given to you for the idea of course) ;)  
**_

Also, I've given up on trying to guess how many chapters there will be! Suffice to say that there will be _at least_ six more.


	6. Learned Profession

**Learned Profession**  
_(early that July)_

Harry had been enjoying a delicious home-made breakfast at the Burrow, enjoying the heartfelt banter between Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Ron was running around like a first-year getting ready for his trip on the Hogwarts Express. Ginny was sitting at the table across from Harry, humour brightening her eyes as they watched Ron's favourite pair of socks hover near the ceiling, just out of his reach.

The cause of his frantic preening was made clear when Hermione entered through the kitchen door. A slightly goofy smile blossomed on her face as she took in the scene, Ron still oblivious to her arrival. She sent a silent spell to the aerobatic socks before taking a seat catty-corner to the love birds at the table.

Waiting for Ron to finish making himself presentable, she tried to strike up conversation over breakfast.

-"Harry, are you even paying attention to me?" Harry, of course, wasn't. It was very hard to concentrate on Hermione when Ginny was sitting across from him, and he had such a lovely view of her eyes. "I was saying you had less than a month before you head off to Hogwarts… _to teach_…?"

"Oh yeah."

"Have you even started your lesson-planning?"

"Uhm… yes?" Harry figured the list he had jotted down weeks ago counted for something.

Hermione sighed knowingly. "I'll help you with them if you want," she offered, her eyes silently scolding him.

When her glare lingered, Harry glanced from her to Ginny and back and then to Ron (who was now fully dressed appropriately for an excursion into the muggle world) and finally back to Hermione, "What? You want to do them _now_?"

"No!" Hermione declared, her cheeks tinting pink as Ron joined her, "We'll work on them when we get back."

"Tonight?" Harry asked worriedly, glancing back to Ginny, who was trying to contain a burst of laughter.

"…or tomorrow," Hermione said in a small voice, grabbing Ron and quickly disapparating to who-knows-where.

Ginny's roar of laughter was quickly joined by Harry's.

* * *

Harry wasn't laughing the next day, as he and Hermione sat at his cluttered dining room table. He sat with his ink splotched parchment from the beginning of summer, tapping his quill on the corner, 'thinking'. Hermione had a larger piece of parchment, on which was a large grid full of minutely written words that Harry could not decipher from his place across the table. 

"You can't just have guest lectures every day, Harry."

"Last year wasn't _that_ bad," he mumbled as he drew a line connecting all the spattered dots.

"You're joking right?" Hermione put down the parchment in horror, "It was absolute chaos!"

"…Once a week?"

"I suppose that could work," Hermione shoved aside another one of Harry's old textbooks in search of her quill. Frustrated, she grabbed her wand and pointed to the pile. Mid-Accio, she changed her mind and pointed her wand at the wall, where a wooden bookshelf magically appeared along the length of the dining room. Another flick of her wrist and the books flew to the shelf and aligned themselves in alphabetical order. "Much Better," she said pointedly, picking up her quill.

Countless hours later, they had developed an overall Seven Year Plan (Harry'd insisted that First-Years and Fifth-Years shouldn't be learning the same things if they had a steady professor), a time-line and objectives for years one through five, and a list of course books, and in the process had gone through Harry's entire stock of parchment.

Claiming it would be torture to send the whole packet to Headmistress McGonagall, Hermione summarized all their hard work into a mere four inches of parchment:

_All_ --Lectures from Aurors, Professors, Portraits, War Heroes, Magical Beings.

Y1-- _Theoretical Aspects of Defense_; _Early Evasion and Blocking Techniques_

Y2-- _Basic Dueling Skills_; _Detection, Usage, and Destruction of Magical Devices_

Y3-- _Defense Against Dangerous Beasts_; _Recognition and Resistance of Dark Spells_

Y4-- Practical Application (cross-referencing subjects, reflexes); _Producing the Patronus_

Y5-- _Benefits and Technique of Non-Verbal Spell-Casting_; Competitive Practical Application

_NEWT Levels--_ Advanced Practical App., History of the Dark Arts, Career Exploration, Student Led Discussion.

When Harry noted the last line, he chuckled, "Too bad they can't all just be student led discussion, then we wouldn't of had to do all this work…" He motioned to the stacks of parchment and broken quills.

Hermione laughed, "Can't you just see professor McGonagall docking 5 points from Gryffindor because you haven't done your homework?"

"Yeah, that would start me off on the right foot with my students!" He absently stroked the pitch black owl that had belonged to Remus.

"It would," Hermione insisted, suddenly mock-serious, "…the Slytherin ones!"

* * *

"Herm-ione…" Harry called too late as she disapparated "you left your box…" He nudged the knee-high carboard container with his shoe before noticing the miniature book-shaped tag, each page with a word on it,"_This_… _is_…_Kreacher's_?' what?" Kreacher appeared next to him as he opened the flaps to peer inside at a spindly metal platform, a greenish crochet hand-towel-sized thing draped over one end, and a gray fluffy bag against what appeared to be a highly decorated scripted _K_. 

"What is it?"

"I think it's a bed. I'm sure it will fit in your cupboard… but if you don't want it, just put it up in the attic or something," Amused but not surprised, Harry left the house elf and headed up to his bedroom. If he would have looked back, he would have seen Kreacher sneeking the gaudy thing towards his kitchen.

* * *

**_Author's Notes! _**

Thank JK for non-verbal spell casting! I would never get through with these if I had to come up with spells for what these wizards can do, lol!

And special thanks to Anrui Shino ( www. fanfiction. net/u/480605/ ) for suggesting that Hermione do something "…house elf related... if not that (I mean, the idea might kill Kreacher it's so kind xD), perhaps something like a library…"

Also, treats for you! I do art for this fanfiction as well, so if you want to see the _Grim's Head Knocker_ ( spatialheather. deviantart. com/art/Grim-s-Old-Place-62858393), or _Kreacher's New Bed_ ( spatialheather. deviantart. com/art/From-Hermione-with-Love-63126750), or a **SPOILER **that happens between the next chapter and the one after that ( spatialheather. deviantart. com/art/Catching-a-Moment-Together-63017383) just go to those addresses!

And as always, thanks to everyone who reads and reviews! It really helps me get motivated or even inspire me to add something extra to a chapter (like the Harry/Ginny mush at the beginning of this chapter XD). Even if you want to want to rant about it, that's cool too: keep me on track, don't be hurtful.


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